18 September 2015

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This week, pupils from St Maurice's High School in Cumbernauld visited Devro (Scotland) Ltd to find out about the exciting careers available in the food and drink manufacturing industry, through a series of interactive workshops.

Devro, a supplier of collagen casings used by the food industry in the production of a wide variety of meat products, is a major local employer and has 400 staff working at its Moodiesburn site alone.

The 30 pupils from S3 and S4 took part in five interactive workshops led by nine of Devro's employees, who are part of the Scottish Food and Drink Federation's (SFDF) Food and Drink Ambassadors Network.

The activities included a plant tour, where pupils were able to see how sausage skins are manufactured, help technical engineers to build machinery, as well as study microorganisms found in food through product testing sessions in a lab.

The pupils filled out work sheets relating to the activities they had taken part in and the three pupils with the same top score won Amazon vouchers.

The students also had a chance to quiz the ambassadors on their careers in areas including food engineering, product development and food science.

Gary Shiels, Technical & Operations Director, Devro (Scotland) Ltd, said: “This was a highly successful event. The pupils from St Maurice's High School showed great enthusiasm when taking part in the workshops. We hope to run more of these school visits in the future to highlight to Scotland's young people how diverse and rewarding a career in food and drink can be.”

John Osborne, Faculty Head of Sciences, St Maurice's High School, said: "Anything that gives the pupils an idea of the real world of work is great and the reality of what goes on outside of school is important for them to see. The pupils really enjoyed the visit and learnt a lot about the food and drink production process and the variety of careers that are involved."

Moyna Kennedy, SFDF's Food and Drink Skills Ambassadors Network Manager, said: “The Ambassadors from Devro did an outstanding job with inspiring the students to consider a career in our exciting industry and demonstrating the unexpected range of jobs available across the food supply chain. They were able to dispel some of the outdated myths about working in food and drink and highlight the opportunities and benefits it has to offer.”

Images are available on FDF's Flickr Page

Note to Editors:

1. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is the voice of the food and drink manufacturing industry – the UK's largest manufacturing sector.
2. The Scottish Food and Drink Federation (SFDF), is a division of FDF and the voice of the Scottish food and drink manufacturing industry – Scotland's largest manufacturing sector. For more information about SFDF visit: www.sfdf.org.uk
3. SFDF's Skills Ambassadors Network is funded by Skills Development Scotland to encourage young people to join the food and drink sector by harnessing the skills, knowledge and expertise of people working within the biggest manufacturing sector in Scotland.
4. 2015 is the Year of Food and Drink and is a chance to spotlight, celebrate and promote Scotland's natural larder and quality produce to our people and our visitors.

For more Information contact:

Kirsty Ritchie kirsty.ritchie@sfdf.org.uk 0131 222 8040

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